Tu B’Shvat

When Is It?

• This Year (5772 / 2011-2012),Tu B'Shvat, the New Year of the Trees, falls on Wednesday, February 8, 2012.

• As all Jewish Holidays do, Tu B'Shvat begins sundown and ends at nightfall

What Is It?• Shvat is the name of the month when

the holiday is celebrated• "Tu" is the way to say the number 15

when it is spelled out (the letter "ט" and the letter "ו")

• Tu B’Shvat is on the 15th day of Shevat

• It is the new year for the trees

Four New Years:There are four new years on the

Jewish Calendar1. The first of Elul: the beginning of the tax year

for animals2. Rosh Hashana (the first of Tishrei): a religious

and spiritual beginning3. The first of Nisan: the "first month" in the

Torah, freedom for the Jews when they left Egypt

4. Tu B’Shvat: the new year for trees, in the time of the Torah, the beginning of the tax year for fruits and vegetables

Why in Shvat?• By this time year, most of Israel’s rainfall

for the year has already fallen

• The trees have already started to grow

• This is the time when fruits begin forming on the trees

• In Israel, the 15th of Shvat is the day when new sap starts to rise in the trees

How Do We Celebrate?

• Plant a tree

• Eat fruits and nuts that grow on trees (especially one that grow in Israel)

• Have a Tu B’Shvat Seder

• Eat a new fruit (that we have not eaten this year) so we can say Shehechiyanu

Tu B’Shvat Seder• One tradition is to eat twenty types of fruit

and drink four cups of wine (or grape juice)

• These fruits can be divided into three groups:1) fruits with a peel and seeds you can eat (like

grapes and figs)

2) fruits with a peel you can eat but an pit you cannot eat (like olives and dates)

3) fruits with peel you cannot eat, and only the inside is eaten (like pomegranates and nuts)

The Seven

Species:(As listed in the

Torah)

1. Chitah (wheat)

2. Se'orah (barley)

3. Gefen (grapes)

4. Te'enah (fig)

5. Rimon (pomegranate)

6. Zayit (olive)

7. Tamar (date)

Happy Tu B’Shvat!